The Dawnbringers
“They were closing in all around as I scuttled back on my hands. My torch snuffed, I was blind, but I could feel their encroaching presence and hear their nightmarish hissing. But then they fell silent, as the stone wall behind me made a dreadful cracking and scraping sound. Another loud crash and I was covered in dust and rubble. Blinding yellow light of a sunrise beamed across the room, exhibiting the terrible visage of the Vampyres. Their skin instantly turned ashen. A woman in Gold and White leapt forward and ran his gleaming blade through one of their hearts. Flesh Cleanser. At that moment I knew that everything I’d heard about The Dawnbringers was true.” - Sardis Sarmon’s ‘In-field Study of Nightkin and their nightly activities’. When civilisation was young, when wilderness and civilisation were not so divided, each sunset signalled a coming doom. Foul creatures would clamber from their caverns and their coffins to wreak havoc upon the world of men. They fought the men and they fought amongst each other. Two types of monsters, in particular, would come to dominate the night. Lycans, wild and untamed children of Silvanus & Selune. And Vampyres, the lords of darkness who escaped the endless gloom of the Shadowfell. After far too long of waiting, in 60AT, mankind decided that the time had come to take back their night. Yes, there were groups before and after, but none were as noble or as effective as The Dawnbringers. The Dawnbringers were created by a wise and enthusiastic high elf named Rashad Luminor, who had visited the Shadowfell and seen the true nature of vampire lords. Wisely, she recognised that the lycanthropes were to be pitied and not hunted, as they had only as much control as any other wild animal. Whenever she spoke of this, many noticed her face darken, and her eyes fail to meet theirs, as though remembering some terrible memory. “But Vampyres!” She declared “Vampyres are nought but evil. And they have intelligence equal or often superior to man. They are truly malevolent and Machiavellian. This my brothers and sisters, is why they must be rooted out and destroyed. Every, single, one.” She came from a noble family and easily funded the creation of a deadly Vampyre fighting force. Later on, when the group became allied with the Sun god, Helios, he demanded that in return for his favour, The Dawnbringers must adopt a policy of killing any Lycanthropes they saw, because of Helios’ hatred for Selune’s children. Luminor reluctantly agreed. Each member was adorned with white robes and gilded armour. This had several purposes, firstly for defence, second for recognition with the public and finally because they would attract Vampyre attention. This may seem to be a negative, but the ideology behind this was that either the Vampyre would leave the area in fear of The Dawnbringers’ presence or attempt to attack this soldier, whereupon The Dawnbringer knight would be able to slay them. Initially, they planned for their swords to be made of silver in case a knight should encounter a Lycan. This plan was halted, however, partly because Lycans were not their primary targets, but also because the Von Zarovich family had seized control of most of the silver mines, guarded by both personal guards and ‘hired’ swords of the realm. Each Dawnbringer also carried several items, supposed to offer minor protection from Vampyres. Including blessed water, garlic, holy symbols, roses and more. Each knight then armed themselves with heavy metal crossbows that fire solid rosewood quarrels, several rosewood rondels and a melee weapon of choice. All of these are blessed much in the same way as their armour. These items are all designed to maximise their ability to slay vampires. Magic wielders were also common amongst the Dawnbringers and they specialised in spells that could help in the fight against darkness, most famously sunburst. But the most famous weapon of the order belonged to Rashad. She had the high Elven smiths pray for blessings from The Raven Queen & Helios and created a beautiful blade, designed to smite undead wherever they may be. This weapon was deadly to vampires and all other forms of undead. They called it ‘Hråve Puig’ in Elvish, ‘Haragia Garbitugoa’ in ancient common which translates roughly to ‘Flesh Cleanser’. Many Dawnbringer knights only needed their presence to deter Vampyres from entering, but occasionally, raids were organised when Vampyres were found en masse. Here, the group used surprise tactics, trying to unleash as much sunlight and as many stakes as possible before the Vampyres can flee. At their height, there were rumours that they were building an insanely powerful, experimental weapon in the observation deck of their tower. For 15 years, The Dawnbringers slowly grew in power and became elite Vampyre killers, amassing several hundred followers, dozens of whom were active knights. Some say that they were even too effective. For their candle burned at both ends, and would not last the night. On the brink of destruction, the three Vampyre families: Nosferatu, Dracula & Von Zarovich came together to form a plan to destroy The Dawnbringers. Using their immense magical and physical power, the Vampyres began to slowly manipulate the people of Bosthego. Gaining an alliance with the orcs, slandering The Dawnbringers and charming people on mass. Insurgents were placed in Dawnbringer armour and sent out to commit everything from misdemeanours to atrocities in local towns and cities. In 76AT, the Von Zaroviches created the now infamous ‘Blood Moon’. A group of Knights similar to The Dawnbringers and yet completely different. Created not for the good of the people, but for murderous intent and for political power. Some people even defected from The Dawnbringers just to join The Blood Moon. by 81AT, the Dawnbringers had almost been made impotent. Work on the experimental weapon stopped and the numbers in The Dawnbringers were only declining. At this time, the Von Zaroviches unveiled their coup de grace. They conspired to form a devastating werewolf attack on Riverguard East, and The Dawnbringers stationed there were mysteriously absent. People were torn apart in the street, killed before they knew what was happening. After waiting just long enough to call it a massacre, The Blood Moon rode in and slaughtered the beasts entirely. They were celebrated across the kingdom. Finally, in 83AT Rashad Luminor was assassinated by Count Orlok Bouchard himself, assisted by Count Dracula. The pitiful remnants of The Dawnbringers rapidly disassembled and hid all the weapons and supplies that remained before they too were killed or chased off. The famous sword was given to three loyal Jarls of Bosthego who had disclosed to Von Zarovich the location of The Dawnbringers’ tower and home, in exchange for the promise of the sword and access to a powerful ritual, which would help them too to become powerful undead.